


Everybody gets delusions of grandeur

by islndgurl777



Series: Star Wars OT Soulmarks [10]
Category: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:21:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23547571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/islndgurl777/pseuds/islndgurl777
Summary: Han inhales a choking breath of metallic air, feet firmly on the ground. Moments later, he falls forward into a soft pile of cool sand. The sudden change is disorienting and he starts to cough.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Series: Star Wars OT Soulmarks [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/447790
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Everybody gets delusions of grandeur

**Author's Note:**

> Some dialogue borrowed from ROTJ.

Han inhales a choking breath of metallic air, feet firmly on the ground. Moments later, he falls forward into a soft pile of cool sand. The sudden change is disorienting and he starts to cough.

“Just relax for a moment; you’re free of the carbonite,” he hears an unfamiliar mechanical voice intone.

He’s burning up. No he’s freezing. He’s shaking uncontrollably and he feels like he’s going to throw up.

The unfamiliar voice shushes him and tells him he has hibernation sickness. What does that mean? How long was he in the carbonite? His heart races as quickly as the questions race through his mind and he realizes, “I can’t see.” How’s he going to escape capture when he’s sick as a drunk Hutt and he can’t see anything?

“Your eyesight will return in time.”

Well, that’s good, but it doesn’t really help him right now. “Where am I?” Maybe he’s not in as dire a predicament as he thought?

“Jabba’s palace.”

Of course he is. He lifts his hand to where the voice has been coming from and encounters some kind of mask. “Who are you?”

The person shifts away from him briefly and then he hears, “Someone who loves you.”

“Leia,” he breathes out, relief flooding him even as she leans in to kiss him.

She breaks away and mutters, “I gotta get you out of here.”

As she’s stooping to help him stand, a deep, awful chuckle booms throughout the room and Han’s stomach drops. He does his best to talk his way out of Jabba’s bad graces, but (for once) it doesn’t work.

To his horror, he’s led away while Leia is left alone with Jabba and his cronies. The last thing he hears is Jabba’s lecherous, “Bring her to me.”

Panic courses through him, but a cool wave of reassurance washes over him as the guard leads him on through Jabba’s palace. Leia’s sending him a feeling of calm serenity through their soul bond. He takes a breath and sends back a jumbled mix of relief and love. He feels her bright moment of joy before he’s distracted by his guard shoving him into a cell and closing the door behind him.

Chewbacca’s in the same cell, he discovers moments later when he’s nearly squeezed to death by the wookiee. “What’s going on?” he asks him, wondering how Leia could be so calm when she’s just been discovered trying to liberate him from under the tail of Jabba the Hutt.

_ Don’t worry, Luke has a rescue plan in place,  _ Chewie tells him.

Seriously? He huffs out a shaky laugh, anxiety boiling in his gut. “Luke’s crazy. He can’t even take care of himself, much less rescue anybody.”

_ Your soulmate’s a Jedi Knight. He knows what he’s doing, _ Chewie shoots back smugly.

What? “A… Jedi Knight? I’m out of it for a little while, everybody gets delusions of grandeur.” He holds out his arms as he tries to find somewhere to sit down. This is all too much. First he and Leia were captured by the Empire and used as bait for Luke. Two minutes later, he, Chewie, and Leia are trapped with Jabba, and Luke’s on his way to rescue them? He suddenly feels like he can’t breathe.

Chewie darts forward to hold on to him, running his hand through Han’s hair. He growls a soothing rumble, trying to calm him down. “I’m alright, pal,” Han says finally. “I’m alright.” Chewie eases them over to a bench and they both sit down. “Tell me what’s been going on. How long…” his voice shakes. “How long?”

_ A year, _ Chewie tells him, growl low and mournful.

His breathing stutters. “A year? I was in there--” he starts coughing again, and Chewie rubs his back to help calm him down. “What happened after I was frozen?”

Chewie tells him everything that happened in Cloud City after he’d been put into carbon freeze. Han lets out a bitter chuckle when he gets to the part where Lando helps them escape and says, “Better late than never, I guess.”

_ You could be more forgiving, _ Chewie admonishes.  _ You did the same thing at Yavin, after all. _

“Difference is, I didn’t betray my friends before I changed my mind and came back,” Han argues, crossing his arms over his chest.

Chewie chuckles.  _ Your princess made the same argument. _

Han grins at this. “Yeah, well, it’s not for nothin’ that we’re soulmates.”

They’re both silent for a moment before Chewie starts up the story again.  _ We were almost away when Leia made us turn back. Luke was injured, hanging from the bottom of the city when we found him. _

Han sucks in a breath and has to remind himself not to panic. He knows Luke is okay, since he’s apparently the mastermind behind this convoluted escape plan. “What happened?” Chewie’s quiet for long enough that panic starts to seep in anyways. “What happened to Luke?”

The wookiee heaves a heavy sigh and his words come accompanied by a mournful howl.  _ Vader nearly killed him. He got away, but not before his hand was severed from his arm. _

“Kriff,” Han breathes out, the word choking him. “But he’s, he’s okay now right?”

Chewie runs a hand down his back in comfort.  _ Yes, he’s okay. _

Han lets out a slow breath to help get his heart rate under control. “Good.” They’re both quiet for a time before he starts up again, “What else happened while I was gone?”

///

Lando visits once to let them know Leia said she was fine and to stick to the plan, whatever that was. Han is still a little fuzzy on how it’s supposed to help their situation to have Luke piss off a Hutt, but he’s going to trust that his soulmates know what they’re doing. Even if it sounds like the stupidest Force-damned plan he’s ever heard.

He tries to contact Leia through their bond, see how she’s really doing, but she’s mostly closed off their connection, only leaving the smallest sliver of it open so they can keep track of each other’s basic mood. He gets a consistent stream of low-level disgust from her and that’s it until about a week after he’s free of the carbonite, when she sends him a forceful message:  _ It’s time. _

He and Chewie are ready when Lando comes for them in the cell block. “Luke’s here,” he murmurs to Han as he and another of Jabba’s cronies lead them through the halls of Jabba’s palace to the main antechamber where Jabba... _ entertains _ his guests.

Han opens his connection to Luke as wide as he can, searching. His eyesight has not improved much in the dark recesses of Jabba’s dungeon, so he doesn’t think he’ll be able to spot him when they are brought before Jabba. But he feels him now through their bond. Luke’s here, alright, and he feels...different than the last time they saw each other on Hoth.

“Han!” Luke calls as they fully enter the room.

Relief floods him to hear his other soulmate’s confident tone. “Luke!”

“Are you alright?” Luke asks, though he could just as easily have asked him through the soulbond.

“Fine,” he assures him. “Together again, huh?”

Luke’s cheeky, “Wouldn’t miss it,” is said with a feeling of confidence Han’s not quite up to feeling at this point.

“How’re we doing?” He asks as they are all pushed closer together, he thinks in front of Jabba’s throne, but his eyes are still pretty useless, so it’s hard to say for sure.

“Same as always,” Luke replies.

Han snorts. “That bad, huh? Where’s Leia?” He can tell she’s nearby, but he can’t quite pinpoint her in the crowd.

“I’m here,” she says, and his heart stops when he realizes she’s in front of them with Jabba. He’s familiar with how the Hutt treats his prisoners, particularly the pretty female ones.  _ Are you okay?  _ he asks her through their bond.

_ I’m fine _ , she assures him, though he’s pretty sure she’s lying.

Threepio tells them Jabba’s decided to throw Luke, Chewie, and him into the pit of Carkoon. Luke feels a little too serene for someone who’s just been told he’s going to be digested in a giant monster’s stomach for a thousand years. “You should have bargained, Jabba. That’s the last mistake you’ll ever make,” Luke says as they’re dragged off.

Han struggles a bit, anxious to leave Leia alone with Jabba again, but both she and Luke are sending him clear enough messages:  _ Trust us _ , and,  _ It’s all part of the plan.  _ Still, he’s not sure they know what they’ve gotten into, going up against this Hutt.

“What the  _ kriff _ were you thinking, sending her in here to get me?” Han hisses in Luke’s direction as they’re led through Jabba’s palace.

Faint amusement trickles across their bond. “Han, do you really think I could have stopped her coming?” 

_ No _ , he thinks to himself.

“Exactly,” Luke says. “Besides, she knows what she’s doing.”

“I don’t care,” Han says. “You don’t bring a woman like her--a  _ princess _ , in case you’ve forgotten--into the Hutt’s den, for kriff’s sake.”

He’s ready to continue ranting, but Lando jerks him to a stop, letting the others get a little ahead of them. “Calm down,” he says quietly, grip tight on Han’s arm. “You can have this argument later. Right now, we need to get to the skiff and prepare to escape.”

///

The rescue goes surprisingly well. Much better than he was expecting, Han admits, as they ride the skiff away from the Pit and Jabba’s fiery barge.

“I told you,” Lando says with a grin, throwing an arm around Han and squeezing his shoulder tightly. The man is radiating remorse, and Han’s relieved enough that they’re all safe to give this to him.

“Yeah, I know,” he admits softly, returning the gesture, kind enough not to mention the way Lando’s shoulders relax and he lets out a shaky breath.

“So what’s next?” he asks, raising his voice so Luke and Leia, talking quietly up near the front of the skiff, can hear him over the wind.

“Now, we head back to Ben’s; that’s where the ships are. You head back to the fleet, and I…” Luke sighs and straightens his shoulders. “I have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Han’s eyebrows raise in surprise and he shoots a look at Leia. She shakes her head, a clear message of  _ Later _ drifting across their bond to him. He nods back at her and takes a minute to look her over. Given how she’s dressed (and kark Jabba for forcing her to dress that way, he’s glad that sleemo’s dead), it would be easy to see any obvious physical damage, and he’s relieved not to find any.

That doesn’t mean she’s okay though. He sends a gentle query through their bond and she smiles quietly back at him.  _ Later _ , she repeats, glancing at their skiff-full of company. She doesn’t want to talk about it in front of Luke, Lando, or the droids. He nods again and she drifts over to stand next to him, arm curving around his waist, her hand resting over his soulmarks.

_ Are you okay? _ He’s surprised at how clear her message is, considering they’ve never been able to communicate in complete sentences before, just feelings.

He struggles with a response. He’s not okay; his eyesight is still not what it should be, his whole body still aches from the carbon freezing, his soulmate was Jabba’s prisoner for a week… He’s not okay, but.  _ I’m with you _ , he sends along to her, surprised again at how easily he was able to send his message to her, along with the feelings of relief and love that went with it.

Her eyes, filled with warmth, crinkle at the edges as she smiles up at him.  _ I’ve missed you _ , she says, squeezing him tighter.

There’s a lump in his throat, and though they’re having this conversation solely across their soul bond, he still can’t quite untangle the incoherent mess of his thoughts and feelings to send her a clear enough message in response.

Still, she seems to know what he means, because she smiles wider and leans up to leave a lingering kiss on his jaw, just below his ear, and there’s a steady pulse of warmth coming from her that beats in time with his heart.


End file.
